Sidney Crosby = Ben Roethlisberger

As we brace ourselves for the inevitably awesome Sports Illustrated "City Of Champions" cover featuring Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger (much like the 1979 cover featuring Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw) one thing has become apparent to me.

Both Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger, even after winning a Championship, are still besieged with questions and criticisms from fans and members of the media who wish to downplay their talent and their success.

After Super Bowl XL the Seahawks fans blamed the officials, head coach Mike Holmgren blamed the officials, and suddenly the talk was about how poorly Ben played. And though he did play poorly in Super Bowl XL, he played so well in the 3 playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl that without him, the Steelers would not have made it to Detroit.

And much like Ben, after Sidney Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time, there are doubters. Even now, not even 24 hours after the Pens won their 3rd Stanley Cup, the talk is how the Penguins won "in spite" of Sid.

They did not win "in spite" of Sid. They won without him. For one game. Sid did not play bad all series, he was not a liability out there. His presence made his team better. The Red Wings were forced to account for him all the time, and it had a tremendous impact on the Final.

Sure Sid did not post great numbers in the Final, but he was 2nd in the NHL for most points in the playoffs behind teammate and Conn Smythe winner Evgeni Malkin. He was also 2nd in points for the regular season.

To ignore what Sid has done for the Penguins leading up to the Stanley Cup Final is ludicrous. Much like Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers, the Penguins would not have been in a position to win the Stanley Cup without Sidney Crosby.

And though Ben still faces unfair criticism, his performance in Super Bowl XLIII changed the way many in the media perceive him.

Perhaps a better performance out of Crosby in his next Stanley Cup Final will do the same to silence some of his loudest critics. As long as they are not from Philadelphia, Washington, or Detroit.

Upgrading The Pittsburgh Pirates

Unless you live under a rock, or are so sick and tired of the Pirates constant losing that your mind blocks out any reference to them, you know that the Pirates suck. And that they have sucked for 16 years now. And that there's no chance they don't continue to suck for the foreseeable future.

My biggest problem with the Pirates isn't that they're terrible. It's just that they're not entertaining. Nothing exciting happens to the Pirates. They might have one or two big ninth inning comebacks at PNC Park each year, but there's never any drama.

Last year the highlight of the season for me was when Doug Mientkiewicz tried to fight Randy Johnson at a meaningless game in early June. Mientkiewicz went on to call the Big Unit "mentally weak."

"Alright! Now we're getting somewhere!" I thought.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Outside of signing two guys from Indian who had never even seen a baseball game before, and failed to win a reality tv show contest because they couldn't throw 85 MPH, the Pirates were essentially boring last year.

Outside of Freddy Sanchez's unexpected run at the batting title a few years, the most exciting season in recent memory was the historic 1997 "Freak Show" season. I remember it clearly, a bunch of no-names fail to reach .500 but still ended up in 2nd place in the NL Central.

That was excitement. And that excitement is all but gone from PNC Park now. Sure it's a nice way to spend the day. Go get some food, visit an incredible park, get a great view of the city and occasionally see one of the league's elite players on the visiting team come into town and make the Pirates look silly.

But is it really all that exciting? I don't think so. But it can be. The possibilities for the Pirates to put an exciting product on the field are clearly there. I have come up with a Top 10 list of things the Pirates can do to make their games more exciting.

The Top 5 Things The Pittsburgh Pirates Can Do To Make Their Games Entertaining

05.) Ball Boys Chimpanzees.

I think we can all get behind a ball chimpanzee going crazy and attacking either LaRoche brother.

Cutest Ball Boy Ever?

04.) Sign Athletes From Other Countries Traditionally Ignored By Baseball Scouts.
I'm sure Vatican City, Madagascar, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo have some budding talent waiting to be discovered. Hell maybe Sengala (the fictional country from the current season of the Fox tv show "24") has some capable ball players.

Ike Dubaku, future 1st Baseman?

03.) The Renegade Video: Pirates Edition.
The Penguins were showing a half hockey/half football version of the famed "Renegade" Video during the Steelers Super Bowl run and the fans loved it. If any team in Pittsburgh needs the ole "Steelers Rub" it's the Pirates.

Just imagine: the amazing vocal stylings of Dennis DeYoung accompanied by videos of big Steelers defensive plays and hard hits. Oh and throw in a Pirate highlight or two from the past few years. Like Randall Simon KOing the sausage, Mientkiewicz going after Randy Johnson, and um...other stuff.

"Dear Mama I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone"

02.) Act Like Real Pirates.
Ok get this: Build a shark pit just outside of center field. Build a metal plank leading from the right field bleachers. Whenever a Pirate player makes an insanely stupid play (which is like, a lot) you send them to right field. Fans can purchase special "Shark Tank" seats at $150 a pop. When said player makes said stupid play, those fans in the Shark Tank seats make 'em walk the plank! Everybody wins!

01.) Bring Back The Freak Show: Literally.
Create at freak show style atmosphere at all the games. This can be done in numerous ways.

First, you can hire a bunch of inbreds from West Virginia to walk around the parking lot and the stadium in their barefeet. Let them go up to random fans and just start sniffing them. It doesn't really fit with the whole Pirate theme, but since Pirates are supposed to be badass, neither does losing constantly.

Have all of the PNC Park vendors be circus acts. The bearded lady can sell the cotton candy.

But most importantly, load the team up with freaks, has beens, wannabes, and players who would make the cast of Major League (at the beginning of the movie) look like all-stars.

Hey, it couldn't make the team any worse. Could it?

I'm Back (And Better Than Ever?)

I am officially back from a long school-related hiatus.

I hope to have my thoughts/opinions on the Penguins, Pirates new uniforms, SB XLIII, the Steelers off-season/draft, the Penn State Men's Basketball team, and much more in the coming days.

Stay tuned.

Unbelievable Observation

NFL from the sidelines: Wednesday update

"Speaking to some different guys in the locker room, I got some
interesting answers to why they thought there hadn't been a holding
penalty called against a Steelers opponent in 23 quarters – a span of
nearly six games.

I'll have that story in Friday's Observer-Reporter."

That. Is. Ridiculous.

Six games? Six f'n games?!? Wow.

2009 AFC NORTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS!

Pittsburgh Steelers 13
Baltimore Ravens 9

The Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 13-9 today to clinch their second consecutive AFC North Division Title.

Once again Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense came through when they absolutely had to. Scoring a TD with under 2 minutes left to go up 13-9. The Steelers scored 10 points in the 4th Quarter.

The Steelers defense once again held their opponents under 300 total offensive yards. With two more games to go the Steelers could set a record that may never be broken if they can hold out two more weeks.

And now just a few observations from me...

• On the first offensive play of the game for the Steelers, Ray Lewis touched an already downed Steelers player seconds after the play had ended. Does anyone else think he'll get credited for a tackle on that play?

• 2.) Willie Parker played much better. His blitz pick-up was pretty solid, he stonewalled Ray Lewis on a blitz when the Steelers were close to their goalline. He also had two decent runs called back by the officials and the offensive line.

• 3.) Every time Joe Flacco throws an incompletion he makes the weirdest face. It's part-sexual frustration, part-sadness, part-anger. Really strange.

• 4.) Quote of the Day: "Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger both like to throw to the open man." - Phil Simms. He's on the number one crew ladies and gentlemen.

• 5.) I gotta give credit to the aforementioned Ray Lewis. He made no excuses and gave the Steelers credit for winning the game in his post-game interviews.

Player of the Game: Ben Roethlisberger. Once again he leads the team to victory when their backs were against the wall and they absolutely had to.

Play of the Game: Lawrence Timmons' strip-sack of Joe Flacco to take the Ravens out of field goal range late in the 4th.

Quote of the Game: "I've never loved a Gay until now!" -- My friend via text message after Willie Gay finalized the game with a pick in the end zone.

Your 2008 AFC Pro Bowl Squad

This comes from the internet, no idea if it's true or not. But it's apparently the results of the fan voting for the Pro Bowl.

QUARTERBACK (3): 1) Brett Favre; 2) Manning; 3) Jay Cutler; 4) Ben Roethlisberger; 5) Kerry Collins.

RUNNING BACK (3): 1) Johnson; 2) Ronnie Brown; 3) LaDainian Tomlinson; 4) Thomas Jones; 5) Marshawn Lynch.

WIDE RECEIVER (4): 1) Brandon Marshall; 2) Randy Moss; 3) Andre Johnson; 4) Reggie Wayne; 5) Hines Ward.

FULLBACK (1): 1) LeRon McClain; 2) Ahmard Hall; 3) Tony Richardson; 4) Carey Davis; 5) Heath Evans.

TIGHT END (2): 1) Tony Gonzalez; 2), Antonio Gates; 3) Dallas Clark; 4) Heath Miller; 5) Kellen Winslow.

CENTER (2): 1) Kevin Mawae; 2) Jeff Saturday; 3) Nick Mangold; 4) Justin Hartwig; 5) Nick Hardwick.

GUARD (3): 1) Alan Faneca; 2) Eugene Amano; 3) Jake Scott; 4) Chris Kemoeatu; 5) Logan Mankins.

TACKLE (3): 1) Jake Long; 2) D'Brickashaw Ferguson; 3) Matt Light; 4) Michael Roos; 5) Joe Thomas.

DEFENSIVE END (3): 1) Mario Williams; 2) Dwight Freeney; 3) Kyle Vanden Bosch; 4) Jevon Kearse; 5) Aaron Smith.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (3): 1) Albert Haynesworth; 2) Casey Hampton; 3) Kris Jenkins; 4) Shaun Rogers; 5) Richard Seymour.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (3): 1) Joey Porter; 2) James Harrison; 3) Keith Bulluck; 4) LaMarr Woodley; 5) Terrell Suggs.

INSIDE LINEBACKER (2): 1) Ray Lewis; 2) James Farrior; 3) Larry Foote; 4) Tedy Bruschi; 5) Jerod Mayo.

CORNERBACK (3): 1) Champ Bailey; 2) Cortland Finnegan; 3) Nnamdi Asomugha; 4) Antonio Cromartie; 5) Ike Taylor.

STRONG SAFETY (3 combined): 1) Troy Polamalu; 2) Bob Sanders; 3) Chris Hope; 4) Yeremiah Bell; 5) Brandon Meriweather.

FREE SAFETY (3 combined): 1) Ed Reed; 2) Michael Griffin; 3) Ryan Clark; 4) Kerry Rhodes; 5) Antoine Bethea.

KICKER (1): 1) Dan Carpenter; 2) Rob Bironas; 3) Adam Vinatieri; 4) Josh Reed; 5) Sebastian Janikowski.

PUNTER (1): 1) Shane Lechler; 2) Craig Hentrich; 3) Mitch Berger; 4) Mike Scifres; 5) Brian Moorman.

KICK RETURNER (1): 1) Darren Sproles; 2) Leon Washington; 3) Joshua Cribbs; 4) Mewelde Moore; 5) Maurice Jones-Drew.

SPECIAL TEAMER (1): 1) Brendon Ayanbadejo; 2) Anthony Madison; 3) Patrick Cobbs; 4) Larry Izzo; 5) Kassim Osgood.

- Who the hell is Dan Carpenter?

- I don't like to root for injuries but maybe some folks will decide not to participate and some deserving Steelers players can get in. I'm talking guys like Woodley, Ike Taylor and Anthony Madison.

- Carey Davis is the #4 FB in fan voting? That's a joke.

- Faneca's selection should net the Steelers a 3rd round compensatory pick. Nice.

If the Pro Bowl selections were up to me, this would be my roster...

QB: Chad Pennington, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger
HB: Ronnie Brown, Thomas Jones, Steve Slaton
FB: Le'Ron McClain
WR: Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Hines Ward
TE: Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates
C: Kevin Mawae, Nick Mangold
G: Alan Faneca, Jake Scott, Logan Mankins
T: D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Michael Roos, Jake Long

DE: Mario Williams, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Aaron Smith
DT: Casey Hampton, Albert Haynesworth, Kris Jenkins
OLB: James Harrison, Joey Porter, LaMarr Woodley
ILB: Ray Lewis, James Farrior
CB: Cortland Finnegan, Nnamdi Asomugha, Ike Taylor
Safety: Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Ryan Clark

Kicker: Jeff Reed
Punter: Shane Lechler
Kick Returner: Josh Cribbs
Special Teams: Anthony Madison

Pirates Sign Non-Indian Player

The Pirates today announced that they've signed Infielder Javier Ramon Vazquez to a 2-year deal.

From MLB.com...

Vazquez, 32, reportedly will earn $4 million in the deal and is Pittsburgh's first Major League free agent pickup since the end of the season. He spent the past two seasons as a backup infielder for Texas and for now projects to the same role in Pittsburgh, though that could change if the team were to deal shortstop Jack Wilson or second baseman Freddy Sanchez, two players discussed at the Winter Meetings this week.

In eight big league seasons with five teams, Vazquez is a .257 hitter with 21 home runs and 160 RBIs. He has experience at all four infield positions but mostly has appeared in the field as a shortstop, playing there in 247 games, including 183 of his 446 career starts.

Very interesting. Too bad it likely won't matter one bit.